Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Ten of Swords]

I'd like to run an adventure centered around Colorado's first state election in 1876. I've got this image in my head of the PCs running their own candidate against a secretly eeeeevil manitou candidate, or maybe the territorial governor under the influence of an evil manitou.

If I take the second option and make it the territorial governor, he'll have a few months in office after becoming a manitou-puppet and before the election comes. What sort of mischief should he get up to? What would a manitou do as governor?

No need for kid gloves, but there ought to be a state left to salvage in November.

Edit: Oh, BTW, in my timeline the railroads are still pushing their lines through the Rockies in Colorado and the rail war is in full-swing.

[gnomestress]

Death & Taxes

Increase taxes on essential goods & services. The more vital the goods (food, livestock, medicine) the higher the tax. Create an import tax for anything coming into Colorado and an export tax for goods leaving the state. Tax churches into the ground. Use that newfound revenue to employ a slew of tax collectors/enforcers. Reinstate debtors prisons. After that? Sit back and watch the aftermath. Poverty breeds desperation. Desperate people are capable of terrible things.

Why do anything overtly evil when sneakier measures will suit you just fine? Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't horrible things best not discovered by man waiting in the basement of the Governor's Mansion.
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Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.
~Albert Camus~

[Clash957]

Outlawing town ordinances that restrict open gun carrying. It is both popular with most folk and one the reasons for such a high murder rate. That was why most towns put the ordinance in effect.

I would also have the Manitou enforce strict laws to keep Sheriffs within their jurisdiction. If an outlaw makes it to the county line, too bad. Hell I might even have the Manitou goes as far as making it illegal for the lawman to shoot back in self defense over a county line as a legal loophole.
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Playing: Deadlands Noir, Planescape via D&D 4th ed
Running: Nothing at the moment

[Snate56]

[Crion]

Clash957 and gnomestress are right on the money with their ideas.

Just a few things that you might be overlooking:

1) Look at the current Servitors for inspiration. If this manitou serves a particular being, they might want to do things along those lines.

2) Take a look at the situation in Gomorra. Perfect example of what a "free range" manitou could do. . .or the type of machinations they are capable of.

3) Remember the overall goal: increase fear. You could impose Martial Law (with hand-selected "law men"), a strict curfew, frequently changing laws (or laws that don't make sense: "You cannot wear your gun on your left side unless you are wearing a bowler with a feather"), things of that nature. If you are familiar with the game "Paranoia," this could make things interesting.

4) Play on Human Nature. What would happen with the populace if a known killer was declared as the new sheriff? What would happen if no law men were allowed in the city?


There are ways to spread evil beyond killing and causing crimes; you just need to put a bit of thought into it ^_^

[doomblade403x]

[El Diablo]

One word : subtility. Denver is a democracy so law and measure that just seems to endangered the citizen and the freedom will just let the governor get kick out. So, the governor must strengten is position by staying popular and adopt law and measure that just let subtly increase the fear. For example, more restrictive laws against criminal generally doesn't lower crime rate but made politician more popular. More public hanging will made the public more happy but more frigthened. So more hanging offense will mostly result in more fear. More fear, people will want to have there guns, so just abolished any kind of restriction against gun. And nothing better than intimidation against opposant. If those that just take there right of speach speak to much just mysteriously desappear...

[Ten of Swords]

Thanks, pardners, great suggestions! I think I've got a couple good starting points.

I agree with El Diablo that the governor needs to stay low-profile with the eeeevil if I want the players to have the option to back a candidate against him in the first state election. If he comes off as an insane monster he won't be much competition in the election, and if he seizes the state in a coup (assuming that's even possible) there won't be an election to have.

Actually, even Snate has a great point, tongue-in-cheek as it is. Politicians these days love to ramp up the fear to get us to gladly hand over our freedoms. I can play with that.

So how about this, for starters? Blame a recent spate of mutilations on the Indians. Reinstate Colonel John Chivington in a command position in the Colorado Volunteers. Chivington is the Methodist minister who led the Colorado volunteers to slaughter a peaceful village of Cheyenne and Arapaho in the Sand Creek Massacre, which sparked the low-level warfare between Indians and whites that Colorado is presently experiencing. Chivington can do what he does best - murder Indians in the name of God and the Union. Indian retaliation redoubles. No prospector or rail crew is safe.

The governor doubles down on the "tough on Indians" stance and vows to end the Indian menace. As part of that, he can issue an executive order banning town ordinances preventing the open carry of firearms on the premise that men need to be able to defend themselves if Cheyenne raiders suddenly show up.

I like Doomblade's suggestion about the "big picture" endgame thingy, too. Isn't the basic modus operandi to ramp the Fear level up to 6? I think the governor's part in that would be basically to engineer a way to leave people helpless and isolated all across the state so that they can't just kill whatever abominations the Reckoner creates. Is that right? So maybe the consequences of failing to stop the governor's re-election is that he cements his hold on the Volunteers and some key media and keeps ramping up fear and suspicion while cutting off communications, supplies of ammunition, etc. until the state implodes in madness and murder.

[SteelDraco]

You might also consider having him sponsor "Indian sympathizers" from within white communities that commit violent acts in reprisal. Push mistrust between the whites, get them to turn on each other, rather than just uniting against an external threat. Paranoia and suspicion are great for raising fear, and once you get it going it mostly runs by itself.

[Snate56]

[El Diablo]